WBLU-LP

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WBLU-LP was a low-power television station broadcasting on channel 62 in Lexington, Kentucky. The station was owned by Equity Media Holdings of Little Rock, Arkansas. WBLU's signal was broadcast from downtown Lexington and provided coverage that did not extend far past the developed portions of the city, although the signal could be picked up in neighboring Scott and Bourbon counties.

There was a construction permit to boost the current power of 4 kW to 42 kW on channel 62, which would have increased the viewing area into the neighboring cities that touch Lexington. The signal upgrade never took place as, while the station as a low-power broadcaster would not have been required to broadcast in the new digital format at that time, channel 62 was reassigned for non-television use after the digital television transition for full service stations was completed in 2009.

History

Channel 62

The channel 62 frequency was originally used by a full-powered station, WBLG-TV (later WTVQ-TV), until 1980, when that station relocated to channel 36.

After WTVQ moved to channel 36, several organizations were petitioning for a license to broadcast on the channel 62 frequency, in the hopes of making it the fourth television station broadcasting out of Lexington (aside from KET). Way of the Cross, Inc., which wanted to use it for Christian broadcasting, was initially awarded the license, but, in 1983, channel 62 was awarded to Family Broadcasting Co., Inc., a for-profit group, due to their ability to build a stronger transmitter, which would carry the signal further into Eastern Kentucky. In 1986, a settlement between Way of the Cross and FBC was reached, which would allow Way of the Cross to broadcast 15 hours of religious programming each week, plus part-ownership of the station, while FBC would construct the station. Meanwhile, WDKY-TV channel 56, based in Danville with studios in Lexington, went on the air, making it the fourth station in the market.

Finally, after more than seven years of legal battles, the station, WLKT, went on the air on October 15, 1988 under FBC's ownership, giving Lexington two independent stations. The studio and offices were located in a small shopping center at 124 New Circle Road, Northeast. The transmitter was located on Clintonville Road, three miles north of U.S. 60, in Clark County. WLKT ceased operations at 4:30 pm on June 30, 1989.

WBLU-LP

Channel 62 returned to the air on May 3, 1999, when B&C Communications first signed on WBLU. The station was a UPN affiliate, airing infomercials and syndicated reruns outside of the network's hours.

In September 1999, WBLU added The WB as a secondary affiliation. The station aired WB programs off-schedule, weeknights at 10:00 pm and on weekends. Because of this, WB promos were usually deleted from the network's programs. The WB affiliation ended in September 2003, after WBKI (via cable) became the WB affiliate for the Lexington market.

In September 2004, WBLU lost its UPN affiliation when WKYT-TV established its digital channel, "UKYT" (now "CWKYT"). WBLU then became an independent station. For the next two years, the station’s programming consisted of syndicated programs, infomercials and public-domain movies (usually purchased at the nearby Wal-Mart).

WBLU was purchased by Equity Broadcasting in August 2006. On September 5, 2006, the station became a charter affiliate of MyNetworkTV. Equity also added programming from the Retro Television Network (which it owned at that time) to channel 62 on the same day. Equity ceased staffing the station on January 1, 2007.

WBLU-LP went dark on or about July 22, 2008 due to what Equity describes as "intermittent signal delivery issues"; the station reportedly resumed broadcasting on October 1, 2008.

The station lost its MyNetworkTV affiliation on October 31, 2008, after WWE Friday Night Smackdown's move to MyNetworkTV caused many of its fans to lose the program (in addition to the station's limited signal, the station is not carried by any cable systems); the affiliation moved to a digital subchannel of WTVQ-TV. Additionally, the RTN affiliation was terminated on January 4, 2009, after a contract conflict between Equity and Luken Communications, LLC (who had acquired RTN in June 2008) resulted in Luken dropping all Equity-owned affiliates, including WBLU, immediately, though Luken vowed to find a new affiliate for RTN in the area; however, as of July 2011, RTN, since renamed "RTV", has yet to find an affiliate for the immediate Lexington area. Consequently, as of January 31, 2009, WBLU had switched to Retro Jams, Equity's music video network. Like all Equity-owned stations, WBLU's programming originated via satellite from Equity's headquarters in Little Rock, Arkansas, with no local staff or advertising content. The station went dark permanently on March 4, 2009.

WBLU was sold at auction to the Daystar Television Network on April 16, 2009, indicating that another programming change was planned. The station never resumed broadcasting under Daystar, and the WBLU license was cancelled on June 25, 2010.